Losing weight by changing one thing at a time. Has anyone tried it the long way?

[BiscuitsAreMyDownfall]

So at the start of the year I was all up for losing weight. I had a plan and was going to be a couple of stones lighter and a dress size (or 2) smaller by now. Anyway half way through the year and I'm actually a couple of pounds heavier so it's not exactly gone to plan.

So the new plan is this. Every month I'm going to concentrate on setting new habits. They say it takes 30 days to get into a new habit. By the end of the year I will have hopefully developed some good habits, even if they are just small. This in turn will hopefully help me to lose weight even if I don't really notice much change for a while.

July's habit will be water. I will drink 2 litres of water a day. If I have a bad day with food or if I can't get to the gym it won't matter too much as long as I have my water.

I am thinking long term with this plan and I'm certainly not looking for a quick fix. Does this sound like a good idea or is it a waste of time? I don't want to do any of the WOE I've heard about. Is there a thread I can join that is just for weight loss and not following a specific plan? My problem is I have no motivation, but doing one small thing at a time I don't really need that much.

[AnnField]

Just want to post some motivation - I've lost 1/2 a stone in the past 2 months by just walking more and drinking more water so small changes can help. Good luck!

[DottyDot]

yes I've lost 8lbs in the last month by joining a gym and drinking tons of water. I haven't made a huge effort to change my eating habits, but going to the gym has made me want to eat less crap - purely I think because I realise how hard it is to burn the calories off!

[MaitreKarlsson]

I'm in. Great idea.

[BiscuitsAreMyDownfall]

I joined a gym at the end of January. I haven't been able to go much recently as I hurt my knee running. I've also been away this month. I'm going again for the first time since April tomorrow night.

I'm already trying to think about the habit for August. I should just stick to water for now.

Thanks Ann

[DottyDot]

Biscuits have you tried C25K? It's the programme that gets you running 5K (or for 30 minutes) in 9 weeks? You start really gently though with 90 second runs and lots of walking in between - might be OK to have a go at if your knees aren't too bad?

I only mention it because it's got me completely hooked on going to the gym - am on week 5 and running for 5 minute sessions at a time - something that was completely impossible for me a few weeks ago. And because it's a programme, it gives you something to aim towards, which I like, as I'm not usually motivated to do any kind of exercise!

Drinking water's brilliant - I put a squeeze of lemon or lime in mine though just to cheer it up

[BiscuitsAreMyDownfall]

Dotty it was by starting the C25K that got me into running and helped me lose a couple of stone originally. I hurt my knee doing a half marathon and now it flares up whenever I try to run. I'm hoping that I can start again next year as I really enjoyed running. And the atmosphere of a 10K was brilliant. Keep going with the C25K.

[DottyDot]

Ah! Aww that's a shame about your knee when you've got so far - hope it settles down soon and well done for losing the weight you have done already - am hoping it'll have the same effect on me!

[Sleepwhenidie]

You could come and look at the Eating Better threads in Food, they are about making small sustainable changes, not dieting, but eating mindfully and generally trying to nourish ourselves better, the aim is to reduce sugar and processed food/white carbs but nothing is banned. There are people on the thread that are losing weight as a result, although that's not the objective.

[alphablock]

I've lost over 4.5 stone in the last year by gradually making small changes, e.g.

• drinking more water
  
• cutting down on alcohol and fruit juice
  
• reducing snacks, takeaways, junk
  
• reducing portion sizes
  
• thinking more about whether I am actually hungry
  
• cutting back on carbs (a bit)
  
• just eating one course in a restaurant if I go out for a meal
  
• learning to adjust my food intake to allow treats on special occasions, e.g. eating less on the day before and after my birthday so that weekly intake is not affected
  
• being more strict re what constitutes a special occasion!
  
• walking more
  
• joining gym
  
• taking up cycling
  

I could never have made all those changes in one hit, but because I have just changed bits and pieces of my diet and lifestyle as and when I felt ready it has been easier than I expected.

I think that drinking more water is a great place to start, but I would recommend trying to add a few more small changes after a week or two rather than making changes monthly as you may find you get disheartened if you don't see any weight loss.

Good luck with your plan whatever you decide on.

[BiscuitsAreMyDownfall]

I will come and have a look sleep

alpha now I've decided to do this I'm actually quite keen to add more so I might look to do something new every 15 days. I think my next thing will be to add more fruit to my diet. I like fruit but I never eat it. So yes from today I will be drinking more water and from the 15th I will have a piece of fruit for my breakfast.

Dotty good luck with the running. I just looked at it as a way to get fit at first then I enjoyed it so carried on and the weight loss was a side effect. I've put some of the weight back on. I enjoyed Parkrun on a Saturday morning too. Running can be as social as you like. You can go on your own or join a running club as I did and it can be quite social.

[MaitreKarlsson]

Hi Biscuits,
A quick thanks for starting this thread. I drank total 2L water today and felt quite a bit better and less keen on snacking. However DH taking me out for a surprise curry this evening may have slightly rebalanced things in the wrong direction! Will stick at it. Keep us posted.

[AggressiveBunting]

I think the gradual change/ layering approach is a great one, as you give time for habits to form and to get used to them and you work out what you can live with on a long term basis. I am on a bit of a mission atm to be "fab at forty" (c.310 days to go ). It's mainly exercise rather than weight focused as I realised that muscle tone isnt going to maintain itself anymore, but my first step was to establish a MWF Crossfit habit and not worry about anything else. That was quite tough because you typically put on weight when you start Crossfit due to the water retention in your poor trashed muscles, and the classes, which are full of young, buff types, are at 6am. Came very close to quitting- definitely any more concurrent deprivations would have pushed me over the edge! However, once I got into the swing of that (took about a month- 6 wks to start enjoying it), I fitted in running around it (so alternate days for 6 days with 1 day off). I broke my foot in December, having had quite a promising start in a conversion from road to trail running, and then a couple of false starts with no real traction once that healed. This time I'm hoping to get it going again, with a race planned for October. Weirdly, around this exercise regime, my diet has sort of sorted itself out- not drinking so much (albeit still a bit too much) as know I have to get up to exercise, eating a bit better, although still a big fat paleo fail. That said, I know I'm never going to be a tee-totaller or a raw vegan, so may as well stick with what I can live with.